Well, it's hardly champagne all round, but maybe a small glass of warm sparkling white for the two major parties after the Norwich North byelection. The Conservatives can certainly celebrate the arrival of a young, articulate female MP on their benches at Westminster: there are not nearly enough of them. But Labour, equally, are quietly happy that they managed to secure second place. There were real fears, throughout the campaign, that they could finish third, behind the Lib Dems.

We have seen, as usual, the old game of expectation management, with Labour putting it about that the Conservatives were on course for a victory of more than 10,000. Certainly, the Conservatives have thrown everything at this byelection with a series of high-profile visits from David Cameron and his top team. Their worry has been that a small boulder may have been placed in the way as their bandwagon rolls its way towards Downing Street. A majority of less than 5,000 would have slowed its momentum.

Labour is left once again with a sad set of excuses, from their candidate's unfortunate disappearance because of swine flu, to the fact that voters inevitably blame the government more than other parties for the expenses scandal. But there have been some own goals too, including the apparently random dismissal of the well-liked Ian Gibson who did have questions about his expenses, but, argue some, no more questions than plenty of others. Anger about the treatment of Ian Gibson undoubtedly led to some Labour voters staying at home.

It's a sign of how bad things are for Labour that a big byelection defeat causes a mere ripple in the political waters today. Nobody had been expecting the result to be anything other than a Conservative victory. And nobody expects another round of leadership speculation to start ... yet.

For now, Labour MPs are exhausted, with little fight left in them. As they head off for the beaches (many are set for the rain-drenched shores of Britain for fear of causing more upset this year), there is an air of weary resignation about the future. Perhaps the economy will start to turn round in the autumn. Perhaps Gordon Brown with his new press people will start to get his PR act together in time for the conference season. Perhaps David Miliband or Alan Johnson might find the stomach for a fight over the summer.

But for now, the Norwich result changes nothing. For Labour, the landscape remains grey, bleak and overcast. It's going to take a real thunderclap before the party can start to lift itself from the current depression. There's little sign of that happening before September, and even then, it looks unlikely.